Around half of the lawmakers belonging to Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party had connections with a contentious religious group believed to be a major reason behind the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the party said Thursday.
The outcome of the LDP's internal survey sheds light on the deep-rooted relations between the party, headed by Abe for more than eight years, and the Unification Church, which has become the source of controversy since he was shot on July 8 during an election campaign speech.
The LDP had been previously reluctant to carry out such a survey, but it was apparently forced to take concrete steps to clarify its links to the group amid growing public distrust in the ruling party, now headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, who disclosed the survey's findings, told reporters that 179 of its lawmakers said they had some dealings with the Unification Church, such as sending congratulatory messages to the organization or its affiliated groups.
Among 379 LDP lawmakers, excluding leaders of both chambers of parliament, high-ranking party lawmakers are also included in those who had ties with the church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.
"We take the result seriously and frankly reflect on it," Motegi said at a press conference at the party's headquarters, adding the LDP will urge its members to ensure that they will never have relations with the group.
The LDP made public the names of 121 lawmakers among the 179, who were regarded as having had relatively close ties with the church, though Motegi said nearly 90 percent of them did not recognize that they had links to the group.
The disclosed names include LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda, Economic revitalization minister Daishiro Yamagiwa and former Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, Abe's younger brother.
Following the announcement, Jun Azumi, Diet affairs chief of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, claimed the outcome has "no credibility."
"We cannot trust (the LDP lawmakers), although they have said they will sever their deep-rooted ties" with the church, Azumi said.
LDP lawmakers who do not abide by the policy cannot participate in party activities ahead, Motegi said. He reiterated that the ruling party has not had any organizational relationship with the controversial group.
The group, founded in South Korea in 1954 by the late Sun Myung Moon and labeled a cult by critics, has become a social problem for its mass weddings and "spiritual sales," in which people are talked into buying jars and other items for exorbitant prices.
Abe's attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, has told investigators that he harbored a grudge against the religious group and targeted the former premier. He has reportedly said his mother's substantial donations to the organization ruined his family's finances.
In a parliament session earlier in the day, Kishida emphasized the Unification Church has not influenced the policymaking process of his ruling party.
As the issue has led to a drop in the support rating for his Cabinet, Kishida said the LDP will make efforts to "restore the public trust," calling on its local assembly members to sever ties with the religious group entirely.
Kishida, meanwhile, told reporters later in the day that it is difficult to scrutinize Abe's past relations with the religious group as he is no longer alive.
The prime minister also pledged to implement measures to strengthen internal surveillance on ties between his ruling party and the Unification Church, which has been criticized for being engaged in antisocial activities.
After Kishida reshuffled his Cabinet and party executive lineups in August, it was revealed that many of those involved had some dealings with the church.
The revelations added to the evidence of a densely intertwined network of contacts between LDP lawmakers and the religious group.
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